The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Verbena plant, botanically known as (Verbena hybrida×Verbena tenuisecta)×(Verbena hybrida×Verbena tenuisecta), and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Rap Orch’.
The new Verbena is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Gilroy, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new compact Verbena cultivars with early and uniform flowering, good basal branching, attractive flower and foliage coloration, and tolerance to Powdery Mildew.
The new Verbena originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in March, 2001 of a proprietary selection of Verbena hybrida×Verbena tenuisecta identified as code number 00-1206-3, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Verbena hybrida×Verbena tenuisecta selection identified as code number 00-1194-2, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Rap Orch was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Gilroy, Calif. in September, 2001.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings in Gilroy, Calif., since September, 2001 has shown that the unique features of this new Verbena are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.